The BitterSweet End
by Symphony.In.The.Abyss
Summary: remember my 'from under the cork tree' story? this is it, but without the song. inspired by fall out boy. almost done, chapter 10 out of 12 done. the chapter names are kind of ovr done, i skipped a number or something...
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: A New Beginning **

After looking out into the blooded sea, Shinji turned to a groaning Asuka, "What now?"

She sat up and turned to him, "Let's go."

"Where to?" he asked helping her up.

"Anywhere Baka, it's not like we have a choice."

He nodded as they walked out of the beach area.

Shinji had a digusted face as they wandered around the ruins. Ruined buildings, and even dead bodies.

"I wonder if there is any life out here still," Shinji said looking around.

"Hopefully, I don't want to be stuck out here forever with you."

He frowned and they continued to walk. They passed by a huge wrecked building and almost got crushed by a falling tree.

"Man, that was close!" Asuka yelled.

Shinji just brushed the dirt off of him as they continued.

The sun was setting so they tried to set upo camp.

"Baka! Get some more firewood it's freaking cold!" Asuka yelled making Shinji run for it getting the firewood.

When hje finally returned Asuka yelled at him again, "What took you so long!"

"Gomen nasai…" he said sitting down.

After moments of silence, Shinji looked up to Asuka. She was crying.

"What's wrong Asuka?"

"N-nothing Baka!" she yelled hiding her tear filled face from him.

"I can see that you're crying Asuka, please tell me whats wrong!"

"Why do you care?"

He put a smile on, "Well because I'm your friend. You know, friends always stick up for each other, and care for each other too."

"When did we ever become friends?"

"What? I find you as a friend, a fellow pilot classmate and roommate."

"I guesws," she said sniffling.

He walked over to her and sat next to her, "Come on, tell me whats wrong?"

She placed her head on his shoulder making him blush, "It's just that, I don't want to be alone…."

"You won't," he said stroking her hair, "Because I'm here, I'll keep you company till we make it back to Tokyo 3. We're almost there."

She smiled and he layed her on the floor to sleep. He did the same watching out for a while before drifting to sleep. The journey up ahead was going to take a while, but for now, it's all good.

During their sleep Shinji woke up to see Asuka tossing and turning.

She was mumbling names, her mother, her father, and herself. And the last name shocked him, "Shinji-kun," she seemed to say. He looked at her, she was sweating and tears were falling from her face, she kept on mumbling, "Don't leave me."

He walked up to her and lay next to her. She woke up, eyes red and wet, she looked at him, "Shinji?" he nodded and she hugged him.

"Asuka…"

"Shinji, you're not going to leave me right?"

"Of course not, I don't want to be lonely either you know."

She nodded and pulled him closer to her.

"It's so cold," she said shivering in his arms.

"Your tears probably made it colder for you," he said hugging her tighter.

They lay down for a while as she got warmer, and Shinji's face also got warmer to, he was blushing.

"Are you okay now?" he asked slipping away from her.

"Don't go…" she cried grabbing on to his hand.

"What?"

"I'm cold, and I don't want to be alone."

"But I'll just be right there."

"Stay," she said pulling his hand, "I don't want to have that dream again."

He looked at her, and he felt sorry, "Ok then," and he lay down next to her and kept her in an embrace._  
_

He blushed as she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him in closer so that their bodies touched.

"What?" she said noticing his red face, "We're friends, and I want you to stay with me. We're friends, so this shouldn't be so uncomfortable."

'It's because we're friends its so uncomfortable,' he thought sighing and falling asleep._  
_

This time Asuka had a good dream, it was of her and Shinji sitting on a hilltop in each others embrace watching the sunset and he was whispering to her the words she longed to hear._  
_

The next mornig, Shinji tried to get up, but she still held onto him, "Not yet," she mumbled making their bodies touch again. Shinji sighed and smiled at her.

"If you want to go home, we should hurry."

She pouted and froiwned letting him go and they continued to walk.

This time she stayed closer to him not yelling as much as usual.

"What did happen in your dream Asuka?"

"It was horrible, I saw my mothers death again, and she was yelling at me, asking me to die with her, but I didn't want to die yet. Then you appeared, and I asked you for help. You reached out your hand, but a part of me told me not to take your hand. It hurt my heart, I was fighting myself, and I lost you. You disappeared, and I was alone again."

"That's really sad. I sometimes have dreams about my mother and father," he said looking at her as she cried. He frowned and reached for her hand.

"Don't cry, I promise as a best friends not to leave you alone."

"When did I reach the level of best friend?"

"Last night."_  
_

She smiled at him and ran ahead, "Come on, I think I see something!"

"Really?" he asked in excitement.

"Come on! Just because we're best friends doesn't mean I'll let you win anything, race you there!"

Shinji was glad to see her happy, and that they were almost home._  
_

As they reached there, Asuka gloated on her win and they headed towards their apartment seeing people, so they thought, Misato must be alive.

They ran into the apartment and at once seeing their guardian they hugged her.

"I thought I would never see you two again!"

Asuka quickly got out of the hug, "What? Me the great Asuka Langely Sorhyu defeated, dead? Never!" and she gallantly walked to her room.

"Are you ok Shinji? Asuka sure hasn't changed."

"I'm fine,' and he quietly walked to his room.

"Wow, it's as if the third impact never happened."

Later that night, Asuka had that dream again and she went into Shinji's room. He blushed to see that she was wearing only bra and panties and he was only wearing boxing shorts. But when he saw her crying again, that thought went away as he comforted her.

**A/N: I promise it would be longer I think, and maybe a bit more interesting.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**A/N: Yep, here it is.**_  
_

After talking for a while, Shinji and Asuka fell asleep. But then later Asuka woke up, a bit pink in the face, she looked at the sleeping Shinji, he was softly breathing on her.

"Shinji…" she said to herself looking into his eyes.

She turned red and thought to herself, 'He's so cute like this. I wonder if he has the same feelings towards me as I do him. Being the Baka he is, he probably thinks we're just friends. But, I want something more…'

She continued to stare at him. But then he woke up and turned red when he saw Asuka looking at him. She smiled a sweet smile and he yawned.

"Asuka?" he said smiling at her.

"Yeah."

"Why are you still awake?"

"Just thinking."

"About what?"

She looked down a bit pink.

"Hmm?"

"Shinji, do you like me?"

The question made him stutter and blush, "Yeah, of course I do, you're my friend."

She sighed in disappointment.

'Oh, she must of meant something else,' he thought blushing._  
_

"Do you hate me?"

"Of course not!"

"Ok then."

"Why are you asking?"

"N-nothing Baka, they're just questions."

"Hmm…"

As he was about to go back to sleep, Asuka quickly kissed him on the cheek.

"Goodnight," she said to a flushed Shinji.

She then fell asleep and he looked at her with his hand on his cheek. 'Wow…'

The next day they started school again. Shinji and Asuka walked together to school.

"Asuka?"

"Yes Baka?"

"About last night…"

"It's ok, lets just go to school, race you again!"

He nodded and they quickly ran towards the school.

Thanks to their little race, they mad it there early so they stayed there waiting for the others.

"Shinji, do you like me?" she asked again breaking their period of silence.

Shinji got a little uneasy, but he answered the same way he did last night, "Like I said before, of course because you're my friend."

She sighed again, "BAKA! Why won't you truly answer my question?"

"Eh…"

"Shinji no baka! Answer me! I, I want to know…" she demanded looking down.

"But nAsuka…"

"No buts mister! Just answer the damn question!"

He walked up to her and touched her shoulder, "Asuka, its just that…"

"What! Am I not worthy to be more than a friend! Or do you just hate me deep inside?" tears began to come out and Shinji didn't know what to do.

'She's complicating things…Why is she doing this? Why is she asking me such a question…Does she…Does she…' but his thought was interrupted as Asuka hid away her tears and waved hello nto her friend Hikari._  
_

Touji and Kensuke also appeared, with barely a scratch as if nothing ever happened.

"Yo, Shin-man, nice to see ya, let's go to class before the class rep there yells at us," Touji suggested.

"I heard that!" Hikari yelled at him as they dashed to cloass. She then turned to Asuka.

"Let's get going," she then noticed that Asuka's eyes were a tad red, "What happened?"

Asuka put on a fake smile, "Nothing Hikari."

"Don't hide things from me Asuka!"

Asuka just frowned and she ran off towards class.

"Asuka…"

In class, the sensei spoke of the second impact still.

ClassRep: Asuka, tell me what's wrong.

RagingFire: Don't worry Hikari, all is good.

ClassRep: I saw you yelling at Shinji, what is going on!

RagingFire: You saw it?

ClassRep: From afar, you seemed to be crying too.

RagingFire:…

ClassRep: I'm worried Asuka, please tell me!

RagingFire: Umm…

YouSuck: Hey class rep and devil.

PilotW2B: Hey Touji, and the others.

RagingFire: Others?

ClassRep: Touji your name is not nice.

YouSuck: Who cares, I'm inviting Shinji.

SilentWind: Hey everyone.

YouSuck: Yo Shinji!

RagingFire: Hey Baka.

SilentWind: Uh…Hey Asuka.

Touji and Kensuke turned to Shinji's desk to see that he was a bit red and that his hands were moving a lot.

PilotW2B: What's wrong Shinji?

SilentWind: ajsdbygrebihgxcvibdl

ClassRep: Whoa Shinji, I think you should go to the infirmiry.

Shinji then started to twitch and fainted. Touji and Kensuke quickly got up and picked up Shinji.

Hikari worriedly looked at him, and told Touji and Kensuke to be careful. Asuka stared at the fainted Shinji, 'Shinji-kun…'

Asuka quickly got up and followed the stooges.

"Please be fine Shinji."

When she arrived she saw the two stooges standing next to Shinji.

"Is he ok?"

They didn't talk.

She got angry and pushed them aside.

"Shinji!" she yelled and saw him lying in bed.

The nurse came and had a thermometer in her hand, "He's just had a high fever. Just let him rest."

She sat next to him on the bed and held his hand, 'Damn, he feels so hot.'

A tear went down her face and she began to weep a bit. Touji and Kensuke took a shock to this.

"The devil crying?"

"I never thought that it was possible!"

Asuka turned to them and glared, "Beat it you two!"

They frowned and yelled out, "Hope you get better!" even though he probably couldn't hear it._  
_

Shinji slowly woke up to see a crying Asuka, "What happened? I feel so cold…"

"You fainted during class, the two stooges brought you here," she hugged him when he sat up, "I was so scared for a moment!"

He wrapped his arms around her, "I'm fine," he said, "I just don't feel too well…"

She let him rest again, "Ok then."_  
_

"Get better please…" she said as she began to walk out.

"Of course," he stared at her, "I don't want to worry you for too long."

She walked out and pushed her hair back, "He'll be fine… I Hope."

That night they told everything to Misato and they are going to take a test tomorrow.

"Are we going to pilot them again?" Asuka asked.

"I don't know," Misato replied and sent them off to sleep.

Asuka again went to Shinji's room crying.

He welcomed her and they slept in each others' arms.

But this night, Asuka woke up feeling a lot of body heat coming from Shinji, he was shaking a lot too.

"Shinji?"

He opened his eyes, he was crying a bit, "Yes?"

"What's wrong?"

"N-nothing, I'm fine…"_  
_

She moved away from him giving him space. He began to move more, but then he stopped and he fell asleep.

"I wonder what's wrong with him…"


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 4**

**A/N: Nothing to say here.**

The next morning, Asuka frowned to the fact that she wasn't in the arms of Shinji. She turned to see that Shinji has fallen off the futon. She stood up and nelt down next to him.

"Shinji?" she said shaking him gently.

He woke up and as he turned to say hi to Asuka, he quickly grabbed his arm.

"Oww!" he said rubbing his arm.

Asuka looked as him arm, but nothing was there.

Shinji though felt a lot of pain and he saw blood spilling from it. Flashes of the past came back to scare him. Asuka looked at him as he groaned, she hugged him and whispered over and over again, nothing's wrong.

But he burst from her embrace and screamed in pain.

Finally the flashbacks stopped, and the bleeding disappeared.

"Shinji are you ok? What just happned?"

"I'm fine, something…something just happened to my arm."

"But there was nothing there."

He smiled at her to reassure her that he was ok, "I don't want you to worry, I;m fine," he held her again, "I'll be just fine."

She smiled and held him tight again. She lay her head on his shoulder and said, "Don't leave me promise?"

"Don't worry."

"Please tell me, tell me that you promise to never leave me."

Later on they walked to Nerv not wanting to be driven by Miosato, just to be safe.

As they walked there, Shinji winced in pain once in a while, and Asuka grabbed his hand and held it tight, "Don't worry Shinji, I'm here!"

He smiled at her and they continued to walk there._  
_

At Nerv, Ritsuko greeted them and lead them to their testing room. Shinji sighed in relief to the fact that he would never pilot again. But he wondered why they were taking tests.

As they lay inside the room, xrays and other machines observed them.

Dr. Akagi smiled at the fact that Asuka seemed fine, but when she saw Shinji's she frowned and started to cry a bit, "No, it can't be…"

Misato heard her and asked, "What happened?"

"Look at this," she pointed to the scans of Shinji's brain.

"What the heck…"

On the x-ray, there was a part missing with a shape of a 3. Also they found a bruise in the shape of eva on his back, and a very thin cut on his arm, so thin that you wouldn't be able to see it, but the machines caught it.

"What does this mean?" Misato asked looking away from the scans.

"Shinji I'm afraid, is going to die."

"WHAT!" Misato screamed and fell to her knees.

Ritsuko placed her hand on Misato's shoulder trying to comfort her, but Misato brushed her hand away.

This can't be possible! You've got to be kidding me! He can't die…"

"But he is, you see, The Third Impact has affected him greatly, there was supposed to be a one in a million odds of this happening, but he was unlucky."

"How can you be so calm?"

"Sorry, but it's life, I find it natural."

Misato ran outside and got into her car and drove away. The two pilots got out and walked to the park.

"I wonder why we had to take the test…"

Asuka shrugged and pulled him towards the hill.

"Sit," she commanded. As he sat, she sat on his lap. He turned red.

"Asuka?"

"It's okay," she grabbed his hands and they looked into the sunset._  
_

"Shinji, please tell me, do you like me?"

He was confused, he answered it already, but she wasn't satisfied, maybe…

He wrapped his arms around her waist, "Yes I do, you're the best frined, I've never been so close to you before, and I've seen a completely different side of you."

Asuka froze at his answer, 'Baka…' she didn't bother to yell at him and she enjoyed their moment._  
_

They talked for the rest of the time, laughing about the old times and talked about the future. They had a wonderful time and at time to time Asuka kissed Shinji on the cheek. He blushed, but he kinda enjoyed them.

And they stayed there till night.

Then when they arrived home, they lay on Shinji's bed and she wrapped her arms around his back.

"Good night Shinji-kun."

"Good night Asuka."__

The next morning Asuka was the first to wake up and walked into the kitchen to see a crying Misato.

"What's wrong, ran out of beer?" she laughed at her little joke, but stopped when she saw that Misato was still crying.

"What's wrong?"

Misato placed her head up and looked at Asuka, "It's Shinji-kun"

"What about him?"

"He's, he's going to die."

Asuka's eyes went wide open and she fell to her knees and wept, "No, it can't be true, it can't be true."

"The third impact, it did this to him. He's been scarred, and will die in about six months."

She slammd her fist into the ground, 'But I haven't even told him that I loved him…We haven't even got to sleep together besides the cuddling. I wanted to grow old with him, I wanted to stay with him forever.'

She slowly walked back to Shinji's room, and before she got in again, she saw him wincing in pain, and she saw a huge bruise on Shinji. It was the shape of an eva. This time, she saw some blood, and she saw the tears flow from his eyes, and hers…

**A/N: Sorry all you Shinji fans. But this is how it goes, and this helps turn out the end of this. If you think this is surprising though, better think again, because when will Asuka confess her feelings, will they ever sleep together in more ways of cuddling? And if this does happen, how does it affect everything?**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 5**

**A/N: I wonder, how does everyone else react to Shinji's illness.**

She couldn't stand to see him like that so she ran into the kitchen again.

Misato greeted her and Asuka sat on the table. She saw Misato had been drinking way more beer then usual. She wondered, 'I wonder if it really helps.'

She approached a can of beer and opened it up. She stared at it for a while, and when she heard him again, she drank it all._  
_

When Misato saw this she snatched the beer out of her hands, "You drank all of it! You're still too young!"

"I don't care," she continued to cry, "Shinji's going to die!"

"That doesn't mean you can drink beer!"

"You're drinking it."

"Well…That's what I always do!"

"But it seems like it helped, so I wanted to try."

"Since when did you care so much for Shinji?"

"Since…"

"Since?"

Asuka looked down hiding her blush from Misato, "Since I first saw him."_  
_

Misato's jaw dropped and she scratched her head, she then smiled, "I knew it! Actually, no I didn't, but you sure did yell at him a lot before. Which means you've always wanted his attention, and now you seem to be around him a lot…"

"So?"

"Wow, you surprise me Asuka. So how do you exactly feel for him?"

Asuka just looked down again, but Misato still saw the red on her, "Oh I see, you love him don't you."

"Shut up!"

"What? It's written all over your face, and you were so sad to find out that he was going to die."

"Hmm…"

"So have you told him yet?"

Asuka sighed, "No not yet, I've been wondering if he liked me, but all I got was 'of course I like you, you're my friend.' I'm getting the feeling he only wants me as a friend."

"Maybe he thinks that's all your asking."

"You may be right…" she looked at the time, "I guess I should wake up Shinji, we have to go to school."

"Don't tell him."

"what?"

"Don't tell him that he's going to die."

"Why not?"

"He's going to spend his months crying and moping, I want him to enjoy his life as if he wasn't going to die."

"Ok."

"And Asuka."

"What?"

"You're going to have to tell him."

She nodded and walked back to wake up Shinji.

At school, she tried her best to act normal around Shinji, but he caught her crying a bit, and she used the excuse, 'there was something in my eye.' But at one time he didn't believe her.

"Seriously, what's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Have I been hurting you in your sleep?"

"No its not that," she said and she caught eye of his back and the picture of the bruise appeared.

"What's wrong with my back?" he asked turning around.

"Nothing."

"Are you just tired?"

"Maybe."

"Then I guess I must be keeping you up, maybe you shouldn't sleep in my bed anymore."

"NO! I mean, I'm fine, let's just go."

He frowned as she walked ahead of him._  
_

At school Asuka was greeted by Hikari and they walked to class.

ClassRep: Asuka, you seem down today.

RagingFire: It's nothing.

ClassRep: You're eyes are red, and I've seen you cry a biut once ina a while, and you haven't yelled at anyone and Touji recently called you a bitch.

RagingFire: I don't care what he thinks of me.

ClassRep: Asuka, I really think something is wrong with you.

RagingFire: Why you think its strange for me to cry?

ClassRep: Yeah.

RagingFire: Why?

ClassRep: Because you told me that you'd never cry again. And you have too much pride to cry this much. What's wrong? Did Ikari-kun do something you?

RagingFire: No, it's just that…

ClassRep: What? You can tell me anything.

RagingFire: Shinji, that Baka is going to… HE'S GOING TO DIE OK!

ClassRep: Oh my gosh…

YouSuck: Yo Hikari why are you and the devil here crying.

PilotW2B: Yeah, did someone die in your favorite soap opera?

ClassRep: Does he know?

RagingFire: No.

YouSuck: Does who know what?

ClassRep: Well you are his friends. Asuka can I tell them?

PilotW2B: What?

RagingFire: Fine, but I'm outta here.

ClassRep: Ok you guys, brace yourselves.

YouSuck: We can take on anything, whatever is making you cry shouldn't make us!

PilotW2B: But she said that he was our friend… Is this about Shinji?

YouSuck: What did you do to our friend?

ClassRep: We didn't do anything, Shinji is going to die.

CRASH

Both stooges fell off their chairs and looked directly at Shinji.

"What is the matter?" the sensei asked.

They just continued to look at Shinji, then Touji said, "Dude, are you really-"

"Shut up you two!" Hikari whispered.

"Go back to your seats!" the sensei yelled.

They nodded and sat down, now, there were four in there crying, but not as much as Asuka.

Outside Shinji asked them why they were crying. They didn't say anything and rushed home.

Asuka arrived home and quickly grabed a beer from the fridge, "I don't care what Misato says," she then took three more, "It just hurts too much."

When Shinji arrived home he looked around for Asuka and he opened her door. He was surprised to see her lying down in her bed. He sat next to her, "Is that beer?"

She didn't reply, it grew silent and all you could hear was the sound of her tears. He then lay down to face her, she turned around.__

"Asuka?"

She still didn't reply, he looked around to see more cans of beer, "Whats going on Asuka? Why are you drinking?"

She turned around and stared at him with her huge red eyes. She hugged him fiercely and cryed on his shoulder. He rubbed her back and said, "It's going to be ok, don't worr about anything, its your nightmare wasn't it? I'm here, and I'll always be."

The word 'always' made her cry more. She knew that it wasn't possible, she continued to embrace him, that was until he jerked again. He began to have a seizure and she called 911._  
_

She stayed at his side until the ambulance came, "Shinji!" she yelled as he was taken away.

She ran out and grabbed a little kid's bike and followed the ambulance.

Shinji woke up to find himself in a hospital bed. He felt a little hot, and he felt a weight on his chest. He looked at it and saw Asuka crying on him.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 6**

**A/N: So what happens next?**

She saw that Shinji had awoken and she turned a bit red, "Oh, you're awake, sorry."

"It's ok, its nice to know that you care for me. What am I saying, of course you care for me, you are my friend!"

She forced a smile, "yeah, I guess so. How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine thank you, what just happened?"

"You had a seizure."

"What!" he said sitting up, but he grabbed his arm in pain and lay back down. He noticed that he was wearing bandages there.

"Whoa," he said looking at it. But then his head started spinning and he had more flash backs, it was a part of the third impact and other battles.

Asuka looked at him in surprise as he grasped his arm and screaming, she began to cry again when she saw that his bandages suddenly turned red.

"Shinji!"

He stopped and breathed heavily, "Sorry to worry you. At least this is just temporary right?"

She looked down and she knew that it was going to happen for the rest of his 3-5 months, but she couldn't tell him, "Yeah, it'll go away."

"That's good, I'm tired of making you worry."

"It's ok," she lied, she couldn't stand him in pain, it broke her heart further._   
_

He stayed in the hospital for four weeks, and she visit him every time. Everytime she came she tried to tell him, but he talked of other things, and it eventually led to him saying that he hopes he'll get out and that he will get better again which left her speechless.

For the last day he stayd there, she remained home crying in her room, "I have to tell him, its already been one month. I need to tell him how I feel, maybe tonight…"_  
_

She planned to tell him just befor they went to sleep. When he returned his arm was stiched and he was happy.

"Hey."

"Heyt Asuka, I guess this'll go away."

"I guess so," she said lying, she knew that that was only temporary.

So as they lay in his bed she stuttered, "Shinji, I…I l-l."

But she was interrupted by his heavy breathing, she was extremely worried again, "Shinji are you ok?"

He smiled at her with the sweat falling down his face, "Nothing, I'm just tired, they took tests on me again at Nerv. I wasn't told anything so I guess I'm getting better."

She frowned at the test thing. Nothing said to him? Something must have happened, so she planned to ask Misato later.

"What were you saying before Asuka?" he asked wiping his forehead of sweat. He then closed his eyes and slowly opened them.

Asuka sighed seeing that he was tired, "Nothing…You seem so tired. Go to sleep, don't worry about me. Goodnight Shinji-kun."_  
_

Later she woke up and walked to the kitchen and saw Misato crying with more beer, "What happened at his tests?"

She sniffled and looked at Asuka, "It's horrible, he's been losing too much blood, he's going to die within the next two weeks."

Asuka froze, "No…" she fell to her knees again, "It's too soon… But the stitches, they must stop the bleeding right?"

"No, they stitched it, but with a scar like that, especially from the third impact, and the thing in his brain, it will still bleed."

"Is that why one time his arm just suddenly bleed when he screams and clutches his head?"

"I guess so…" she offered Asuka to sit and she did and they cried together.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 7**

**A/N: She only has a short amount of time…Shinji, how is he doing? This is all Shinji in this chapter.**

Shinji woke up to see that Asuka wasn't lying next to him, "Aww, I wonder where she went," he missed the smell of her hair, and the warmth she emitted from her body, "She seems so concerned for me lately. And she hasn't asked me if I liked her in a while. Those questions did bug me though…"_  
_

He went back to sleep for he felt dizzy once again.

When it was lunch time at school, he wandered around the park.

"I hope the sensei doesn't mind me being late," he said to himself as he paused and sat on a bench.

He took in the fresh air and felt his forehead, "I guess my head is feeling better today."

He sat and sighed and looked out towards the school. He was wondering what Asuka and his friends were up to, "I wonder if they realize I'm gone…"

He looked at his watch, "I guess I have 10 more minutes," and he layed back.

He continued to watch the school and he stared at the roof because he saw Asuka there crying with Hikari, "Oh my, I hope Asuka's okay," he got up, "Oh, I guess I should leave her, she does have Hikari."

He continued to look at the roof, he stared and gazed at Asuka. He instantly turned red when he thought she saw him, "Oh no, I hope she didn't notice me."

He thought about the past days, he's been having a lot of pain, and Asuka has been by his side the whole time, but he saw her cry everytime, which made him feel sad.

"I feel so bad for making her cry almost everyday…I wonder if she still has that nightmare…But I shouldn't worry, it'll go away, im so sorry that she has after affects from te third impact, and all I got was this cut on my arm."

He looked at his arm again which was bleeding a bit, "What the?"

He never thought that it would bleed again, but he just shrugged, "I doesn't hurt that much!"

He thought about Asuka again, flashes of her appeared in his head, "Oh I'm having those flashes again..But they're of Asuka, so they make me feel better," he dreamily sighed, "I just love her…"

He then froze when he said that, he couldn't believe what he just said, "Oh my gosh, I love her don't i…"

He smiled at himself, "I guess I know what to say the next time she asks me that question."

Again he froze, "But, that would be so hard… I don't think I could admit this to Asuka."

He frowned and sighed, "I can't just forget it…I can't just pretend that I still want to be friends…"

"I mean, I still want to be friends, but I want it even more, I love the closeness, she makes me feel better, her concern makes me feel wanted, and that I'll never be alone. It assures me that, we'll be together forever, but in the sense of friends?"

He looked into the sky, "Or as lovers?"

He looked down and took a while to think, he then turned to the side to see that Asuka was running to him, "Hey Baka, lunch times over," the class rep was there too, "Yeah Ikari, it is time for class!"

He nodded and waved to them, he then smiled at Asuka and rushed over to them when the other stooges came to wave at him too.

In class, instead of reading and writing pms and taking notes, or talking to the others, he spent the whole time staring at Asuka.

RagingFire: What are you looking at Baka?_  
_

SilentWind: You.

RagingFire: …

SilentWind: Oh gomen nasai, I won't look anymore!

RagingFire: No it's fine.

SilentWind: Really?

RagingFire: Yeah, just don't do it too much, you're embarrassing me, I mean, stop looking or I'l pummel you!

SilentWind: Lol, sorry then to disturb you.

He turned away from her and looked at his computer screen, there was a picture of him and Asuka, and they were holding hands. The heat rushed to his face.

YouSuck: Dude, are you looking at porn?

SilentWind: Of course not!

PilotW2B: Then what? You're face is turning all red.

SilentWind: It's nothing.

He closed the conversation and sighed. He again looked at the picture and smiled.

The next thing he knew, he was writing a pm to Asuka.

Dear Asuka,

I've been noticing you crying a lot lately and I'm really worried about you. Come after school to the hilltop and we can talk there. Just remember, I'll stay with you forever. We're best friends right? And if you're having that nightmare again, please tell me, I am really concerned about you.

He sent it and sighed. He couldn't believe that he was planning to tell her then… Hopefully she won't break his hear or it won't ruin their friendship._  
_

He spent the rest of his time staring at her again, this time no one noticed, and after he looked at her, he looked at old picture of them…_  
_

He sat at the hill, and waited for Asuka, "I hope she accepts my love for her, if it ruins things, then I'd be humiliated and sad, but if she really does care for me in the same way I do for her, then she probably loves me too, But whatever happens, it's hard not to think about her. I don't want to be alone."

**A/N: Yay, they finally get their chances, can Asuka and Shinji really find the guts to admit what they feel, and if so, what happens next?**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 8   
**

**A/N: The moment of truth! They're alone together again on the hill top…**

Shinji thought about yesterday's event's as he waited for Asuka on the hilltop.

Asuka was surprised that Shinji invited her to the hilltop, she wondered what's going on…

He smiled as he greeted her to the hilltop. He was a bit nervous, and she was too.

"Hey Asuka," he said as they sat next to each other.

They just sat and looked as the sun set. She rested her head on his shoulder and he smiled, "So how are you Asuka?"

"I'm good, how is your arm?"

"Fine," there was still an uneasy wave of silence.

"So Shinji, do you like me?"

Again she asks the question, she thinks that he'll probably say the same thing, 'We're just friends…' she thought.

He paused, he didn't say anything, Asuka turned to se that he was red and sweaty, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he said wiping his forehead, "It's just that this is kind of hard to say."

She blushed, "Really?"

"Yeah, telling your best friend that you love them is really hard you know!" he accidently yelled out.

They both turned red and faced each other.

"So you love me?"

"Yes Asuka," he grabbed her hand, "Of course I do. I love everything about you, your smell, your hair, your smile, your eyes, your warmth, your kindness, even your aggressiveness."

She laughed at the last one and almost melted when she saw that he was staring at her with loving eyes and smile.

She cleared her throat and took in a deep breath, "Shinji-kun I love you too."_  
_

They lay down to look at the sky now filled with stars. She rested her head on his chest.

"The stars are beautiful; I wish everything was like this. And I wish the third impact never happened. And I wish we were in some alternate universe where we were always friends and nothing horrible happened so we'd just live a normal life."

"You're right Shinji-kun."_  
_

She nearly fell asleep on his chest, they beating of his heart soothed her. He was stroking her hair which made things better. And when it got colder, they snuggled._  
_

"I guess we'll stay together until we both died right?"

The word 'died' hurt her, she knew that he was going to die soon, "Yes."

"We're lucky that that won't happen until like…a lot more years!"

She refused to speak of this topic and told him that they should go.

**A/N: Sorry that was so short…  
**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 9**

**A/N: Ok it's the night…**_  
_

When they returned home, they lay inside Shinji's bed. Shinji was shocked to see that Asuka was taking off her clothes.

"What are you doing?"

"It's a special night Shinji, and don't worry, I'll be careful with your arm," she winked at him and helped him take off his clothes.

She carefully got on top of him and they shared their first kiss. It wasn't too soft or to rough, it was perfect. It had tongue and they kept it like that for 5 minutes using their love and passion as guides.

They then separated and blushed as they began. Asuka did her best to keep away fom putting too much pressure on his back or arm. So they had their night, filled with love, passion, and some parts of it, tears.

When they finished Shinji fell asleep keeping Asuka in his arms. Asuka smiled but frowned, 'I know its early for us but Shinji-kun..he's going to die in the next week…'_  
_

She pressed her body closer to him and snuggled in his arms. She didn't want him to let go. Never, but she knew it couldn't happen._  
_

She stared at him, she felt a lot of warmth for their bodies were right against each other, she didn't uncomfortable, it felt quite normal. She cried once again, she wished that their night could last forever and that the next week wouldn't come.

He woke up and turned a bit red to feel her chest up against his. But he smiled at her and stroked her hair, "Come on Asuka don't ruin the night, don't cry. Be happy! Good night Asuka."

"Goodnight Shinji-kun," and she did her best to sleep._  
_

Later she woke up and went to the washroom and used it. She then looked down to see that there was a pregnancy test there. She stared at it for a long time and noticed that it was transforming, and it turned to a positive.

_A/N: How was that pregnancy test there? The mystery of randomness! Oh god, ASUKA'S PREGNANT!_


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 10**

**A/N: Oh my gosh, it's almost done! Sorry, I know that it does take a while to tell if your pregnant, but hey, SHINJI'S GONNA DIE SOON, AND IF SHE DOESN'T KNOW THAT SHE'S PREGNANT AND DOESN'T TELL SHINJI, THEN HE DIES WITHOUT KNOWING THAT THE LOVE OF HIS LIFE IS BEARING HIS CHILD. That is all…**

She continued to stare at it as if it was a huge rat. Her heart beated faster and faster, 'Holy freaking Shit!' she thought._  
_

She knelt down next to the test and grabbed it into her hand. She stared at it longer, and she wept, tears of joy, then tears of sadness.

"I'm having Shinji's baby…But…He or she will never see their father…And Shinji's going to die without seeing his baby. Maybe I shouldn't tell him about it," she continued to frown, "But then, he won't know that he has a son or daughter or anything…But if he figures out, he'll wonder why I didn't tell him…OH THIS IS SO CONFUSING!"

She hid the test deep into the garbage can, washed her hands and walked back into the bedroom. She saw a sleeping Shinji and sighed. How can she tell him? How can she tell anyone?__

The next day she walked to school early and alone, to think over things.

"Shinji-kun, I have to tell you something, I'm pregnant…No, that's too…straight foreword. Maybe something a little light, um, Shinji, I am bearing your child! No, this is too hard…"

Back at the Katsuragi residence, Misato just finished using the washroom and buried her hygienic product down into the garbage so Shinji doesn't ask her about it anymore. And when she saw a pregnancy test, her eyes grew wide, a positive.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!"

Shinji walked to school happy from last night, they're finally together, but, "What happened to Asuka?" he said into the air, he looked around nothing, "She must've left early, but why?"

At school, Asuka was the only one there. She sat in her desk and placed her head down to think. Her brain was hurting and so was her heart.

"I can't…If I tell him about my baby, then he's going to ask why I didn't tell him earlier. Also if I told him, he'd tell Misato, and she'll blab to me about how wrong it was and then I'll slip that he's going to die…"

Suddenly the door opened, she looked to see Hikari standing there looking at her.

"What's wrong Asuka?"

"Nothing…"_  
_

"Your lying, your eyes are red, and you're here early, there must be something on your mind…Is it Shinji?"

"Kind of, he is going to die in like three days now…He's going to go soon, I can't believe this!" she broke into tears again. Hikari went to her side.

"So did you tell him?"

"What?"

"That you loved him."

She paused and thought about yesterday, "Yeah…"

"That's great! Did anything happen? How did he react?"

"He loves me too…Then we went back home at like 10 or something, and we…"

"Did you?"

Back at Shinji, he was closer to school and then Touji and Kensuke came and greeted him.

"Yo Shinji! How was your day yesterday?" Kensuke asked.

Shinji blushed and looked down.

"What happened Shinji? Did you find out that-" but Kensuke covered up his mouth and hje whispered into his ear, "Dude! We're not supposed to say anything!"

"What is it? You heard that Asuka and I got together?"

"WHAT!" they both said in unison and jaws dropped, but then they smiled and congratulated.

Then Touji got and evil look on him, "Oh…So then you did it?"_  
_

"WHAT!"

"WHAT?" Asuka dropped from her chair, "How do you know?"

"So you did do it?"

"Yes."

"H-hai," Shinji replied and turned red.

"Whoo hoo Shinji!"

"But dude, how was it?"

"Um...it was ok…" he turned even more red if possible.

"Did you use any protection?"

"Uh…Protection?"

"BAKA!" They both exclaimed.

"What?"

"She's going to be pregnant!"

"Oh shit…"

Asuka stared at her friend, "Hm…"

"Well, that's good fro you, its early, but he's going to die," she paused and looked at Asuka, "Oh, I'm sorry, so did you use protection? Did you be careful of his wounds?"

"Of course- wait, protection?"

"A condom! Ugh, I'm the virgin and you don't know what a condom is!"

"I'm sorry."

"So are you pregnant?"

"Yes…"

Hikari stood in amazement and fear, "How are you going to tell him?"

"I don't know…"

"You have to though…"

"I know…"

They stood there as everyone got in and for the rest of the day Asuka just stared at her screen.

_  
_The rest of the day, Shinji stared at Asuka, he knew that she's pregnant, and that its probably his. But he wasn't sure for sure.

'Asuka…" he quietly said looking at her and sinking into his seat.

"Why won't you just tell me?"

At lunch he saw her rush to the roof and followed her._  
_

Asuka head to the roof and sat to eat and look into the horizon.

"No wonder…I forgot about protection…" she sighed and frowned even harder. She heard footsteps and turned around.

"Who is it?"

She gasped as she saw Shinji, "Why are you frowning Asuka?"

He walked up to her and sat, "You shouldn't be sad, I know…"

"What?" she was shocked, what did he know?

"I know, that your pregnant."

She opened her mouth to reply, but nothing came out. He took her hand and they waled out.

Later that night, they sat at the table and stared at each other. She looked down, but Shiji looked hard at her. He was to speak, but Misato burst in.

"ASUKA! Have you been fooling around with anyone lately?" she marched up to her and looked her into the eyes.

"Yes…"

"Who's baby is it?"

"Shinji-kun's…"

**A/N: Sorry that took so long, so many doctor trips, and yeah. We're almost done people!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 11: Something Amazing**

**A/N: This chapter, they talk about the baby, about the past and their future, and hey what's going to be the name of the baby?**

Misato's mouth opened and closed over and over again. Shinji looked at Asuka and they exchanged looks of concern.

"You two…You two…" she smiled lightly and tears began to form in her eyes. The anger in her heart was being overwhelmed by happiness for them.

Shinji and Asuka were a little shocked as Misato hugged them both. Shinji winced a bit, "Ouch," he said quietly and Misato mumbled a sorry.

Asuka and Shinji looked at Misato and Misato rubbed her eyes, "Congratulations, right now I'd be pissed out of my mind but…I'm happy for you two."

She hugged them once again and they returned to eating. Misato eyed the two and sighed, "So, what are we going to do about this baby?"

Asuka sighed, "I don't know Misato," she rubbed her tummy, "Shinji's going to…"

"I'm going to what?" he looked at them strangely and the shook their heads.

"It's nothing Shinji-kun," Asuka said in a tender and soft voice. Tears formed in her eyes and she looked at Shinji's calm face. She approached him carefully and embraced him, "It's just nothing, Shinji, it's nothing…"

He shrugged and embraced her back. He felt her tears on his shoulder and he saw Misato crying too, sure, she's pregnant, but what is with all the water works? He felt some pain and he winced, but its okay, he was in her arms anyways.

The next day, the rumor spread pretty quickly about the baby. The girls at school surrounded Asuka and asked many questions, and so did the guys that surrounded Shinji. The two didn't like the attention, and so they escaped at lunch and met at the top of the school.

Hikari and the other two stooges followed, but they didn't want to disturb them, so they ate on the stairwell waiting for them to come down.

Shinji munched on his sandwich and looked at Asuka with tender eyes, "So, what now?"

Asuka finished her own sandwich and sat with her knees in front of her. Sighing she placed her head on it and mumbled, "I have no idea…"

"What about we make a name?"

She looked at him, he saw the red in her eyes, and he wiped away the tears that remained on her face. They thought for a moment, and Shinji put his arms around her. This was something new to the both of them. They never did name anything in their life. They had no pets beside Pen-pen, and he was named before they came.

Suddenly, the hot sun that was going down on their backs disappeared, and it began to rain. Shinji's injuries began to bleed again, and his uniform turned red, Asuka turned to him in concern, but he told her that the baby name comes first.

"hmm," she pondered. Looking as the rain fell, "Aha," she said to herself, "Maybe Raine…" she looked into the cloudy sky, "Yeah, Raine!"

"That is, if it was a girl," he smirked, "Since your using your surroundings, how about Cloud, if it was a guy?"

"You play too many of those final fantasy games," she said smiling, she giggled lightly, "Hmm, remember when we always argued?"

He held her tighter, "Yeah, I usually was afraid of you, you were very over powering," he laughed though, "But it was kind of funny, how you would usually win, and I'd end up in my room listening to my SDAT…"

She nodded and rested her head on his shoulder, "So, Raine if a girl, and Cloud if a boy?" she smirked, "Well, we're very good at picking names."

"Yeah," his smile grew wider, "So, I wonder how life would be with them…Maybe by the time they're born, I'll be healed."

Asuka's heart grew heavy when he said this. She remembered that he still doesn't know that he is going to die. She turned to him, "Shinji-kun…"

He turned to her, his smile still attached to his face, she couldn't do it, "Yes Asuka-hime?"

"N-nothing…" she turned away and plastered on a fake smile.

"Ok then," they sat there as the rain continued to fall. Minutes later, the lunch bell rang and they head to the stairs. They saw Hikari, and the other stooges there.

"Can I be the god mother?" Hikari asked right away.

"It depends," Asuka said with a smile, "If Shinji says its ok!"

"Sure Hikari!"

"Can we be god fathers?" Kensuke and Touji asked at the same time.

"Su-" Shinji was cut off by his girlfriends fist.

"You better not make my bay stupid with your idiocy!" she raised her fists at them and they quivered in fear.

"Of course Asuka! Or shall I say, Mrs. Asuka!" they joked and then they got whammed in the head by Hikari.

"Oh well…" Shinji blushed and turned to Asuka, pulling out a small box he bent one knee, "Asuka, since, you are pregnant, and I do love you. I was going to wait until we finish high school but, will you marry me?"

Asuka stared in wonder at the ring, "Of course…" her eyes watered, "Of course I'll marry you Shinji-kun!'

The other friends smiled widely and offered to be best man and bridesmaids. The moment was happy, although Asuka still had the thought of Shinji dying in her.

Later, the three stooges walked home together, and Hikari with Asuka.

"So when is the wedding?" Hikari asked.

"Next week…" Asuka said in a low voice.

"Why so sad?"

"Don't you remember what next week is?"

"The chance that Shinji might die?"

"Yes…"

"But…You never know, he could still survive…Don't think so negative…"

"But look at his condition!" she pointed to them, they weren't that far in front, "He could die…He could die on the day we get married…"

Hikari hugged her best friend, "It'll be fine…Believe me."

Asuka blocked all noise, she cried, but without Shinji hearing, she couldn't stand the thought of Shinji dying again. She forgot all about the happiness from that afternoon. Her thoughts were surrounded by death.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 12: He finds out**

**A/N: Hey, it's the second last chapter, what do you think will happen?**

When the two arrived home, they saw that Misato wasn't home. Asuka sighed as she stared out the window, it rained again, but she smiled, it reminded her of their moment at lunch. She turned to her side and saw Shinji lying down listening to his SDAT. He looked peaceful, for his eyes were closed and he was bobbing his head.

Turning back to the window, she saw a mother alone with a baby carroiage. She was a little troubled, but then a man came around with an umbrella. It was a sweet sight, it must've been the father, for he kissed the mother and he smiled at the baby in the carriage. Sighing deeply she thought of when she and Shinji were a bit older with their baby in it's carriage. But then her head hurt for a moment, a picture of death swayed through her mind. She winced and sighed once more.

Walking towards the kitchen, she readied some cookies and milk for herself to eat. Slowly nibbling on one she sighed once more and rested her head. Too many things were on her mind, she didn't know whether to hope that Shinji will live, or mourn that Shinji is going to die. Every time she tried to think about it, it hurt her even more.

"Asuka-chan?" Shinji said softly at the doors of the kitchen.

She turned to him with a slight smile, "Hey Shinji-kun," she placed her head up and saw that she had one cookie left and offered it to Shinji.

"Thanks," he said and placed it in his mouth, and enjoyed it, "So, what do you want to do?"

"I don't know," she said.

"This is unusual you know, I'd expect for us to be arguing by know hehe," he smirked, "It's boring you know in ways…Although it's kind of cool you to be so silent, a nice change…"

"Shinji-kun…" she said quietly, as if she didn't hear a word he just said.

"What?"

"Do you know what happens when you lose too much blood?" she asked her eyes slightly dull.

Shinji jumped at the question, "I don't know," he coughed slightly and some blood appeared on his hand, panicking he wiped it on his shirt, Asuka's eyes widened.

"Shinji-kun, you just coughed up blood!" she went to his side.

"It's nothing, now what about this stupid-" he began coughing again and fell to his knees and moaned in pain, "It's nothing Asuka-chan," he smiled at her while wincing through the pain, "Now what happens when you lose too much blood?"

Her eyes widened and she held Shinji in her arms, "When you lose too much blood, you die Shinji-kun…And that's what might happen to you in a week, YOU'RE GOING TO DIE SHINJI!" she yelled it and held him tight.

"Pft, Asuka-chan," he smirked, "I knew that…"

Asuka let him go and stared him straight in the eye, "What?"

"I knew I was going to die Asuka, you guys can't keep it a secret forever," he fell over again, "But I thought that, maybe if I can stand this, they can soon find a way to help me you know…These weird injuries and crap, I know that they must be fatal…"

"Shinji-kun…" A voice said from somewhere else.

"Shinji-kun," another voice said from the door.

The two teens looked at the door and saw Dr. Akagi and Misato.

"We're taking you to the hospital Shinji…We may need to do something…" she said as Misato picked him up, "Asuka are you coming?"

"Of course…"

A/N: Sorry for the extremely short chapter lol. Have fun, it's one more chapter to go, I think the last one is going to be really long. IS he going to die? You never know…


End file.
